Random Thoughts with Will

    18 years ago, VeggieTales made the jump from direct-to-home videos to the big screen, releasing Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie. G iven that Jonah's story ends on a unique, not-so-uplifting note, it was interesting that  VeggieTales chose to make this Bible story into a full-length movie. That said, the movie  does end on a positive note with a musical number about Jonah's story and the lessons we can learn from it. Recently, I read through the Book of Jonah (both with friends at church and on my own) and I wanted to share my takeaways from reading through Jonah. Here we go: God Uses Us in Spite of Ourselves       Last year, I heard a sermon where the overall message was that God will use us in spite of ourselves and our actions. While the sermon itself focused on Samson and his life, Jonah is another good example of God using someone in spite of one's actions. When Jonah was instructed by the Lord to go to Ninevah, he went the exact opposite direction ...

     A little over a month ago, longtime television personality Regis Philbin passed away. While Philbin holds the world record for most hours on U.S. television, there is one particular game show that I most fondly remember him for: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (as a fun throwback, my family had a CD Rom of the game that we'd sometimes play). Over the course of Philbin's tenure as the host, there was one trademark phrase he'd ask contestants as they made a decision: "Is that your final answer?" The question would often be asked for clarification or as time ran down. Nonetheless, once the contestant said "final answer", their decision had been made -- good or bad.     While Regis Philbin never asked me that question, I have certainly asked myself that question countless times. A lot of times, that has occurred (but is not limited to) taking tests and exams. Before I'd turn in or submit a test, I would often review my answers (time permitting) to dou...

           There's no way around: this past week was a stressful one here in Houston. As one tropical storm (Marco) started dissipating in the Gulf, another storm (Laura) was strengthening and headed for Texas and Louisiana. Forecasts on Monday and Tuesday had Houston in the dreaded "cone of uncertainty", meaning that Hurricane Laura could make landfall near Houston. After a stressful few days leading up to Wednesday night/Thursday morning, when Hurricane Laura made landfall, Houston ended up being fine. However, this meant that East Texas and West Louisiana got hit incredibly hard by Hurricane Laura. Seeing pictures of the damage from Laura in places such as Lake Charles or Cameron, LA have been absolutely devastating. I can't imagine what so many families just a few hours east of here are going through right now. My heart goes out to them and I will be praying for them as they rebuild from Hurricane Laura.      As Hurricane Laura was in the...

     Today's calendar reads August 15 - and Houston's temperatures would certainly agree with that. Warm temperatures aside, there's a different date that's been on my mind for the past few weeks months: February 2, a day more commonly known as "Groundhog Day".     Groundhog Day is synonymous with the 1991 comedy film of the same title   starring Bill Murray. In Groundhog Day, Phil Connors (portrayed by Murray) finds himself reliving the same exact day over and over again: stuck in Punxsutawney, PA covering festivities for Groundhog Day. Although it is not clear how long Phil Connors is in this time loop, it is estimated by some that he was in it for 30-40 years.     Think about that: Phil Connors was stuck in a time loop reliving the same exact day for over 30 years . Everything around Phil unfolded the same way each day -- the only difference between each day was dependent upon how Phil acted and behaved himself. When Phil realizes that his acti...

     Nearly 10 years ago, a high school teenager in Virginia wanted to create a blog filled with song parodies, including ones of John Lennon's "Imagine" or "A Whole New World" from Aladdin . The blog was titled "Bringing the Wheat", as Wheat is said blogger's middle name. After a few posts though, the blog fizzled out and became mostly forgotten. Flash forward to a few years ago, and that blog was resurrected and re-branded into "Random Thoughts with Will". Flash forward to today, and here I am writing my 100th post for that blog. What a ride it has been!      For today's post, I wanted to do a tribute "100th Post". After all, the 100th Day of school was a day we celebrated in elementary school and TV shows celebrate their 100th episode with entering syndication reruns. In addition to that, this can serve as an early celebration of the blog's 10 Year Anniversary. Feel free to call this post "Random thoughts with Wi...

     Growing up, when I was watching TV shows such as Full House or  Darkwing Duck , there was one way I hated seeing an episode end: on a cliffhanger note with the words "to be continued..." on the screen. Instead of finishing with everything resolved or ending with a witty one-liner, the episode ends unresolved and on an ominous note. Although "to be continued" provides reassurance that the story arc itself is not over, it still signaled that the singular episode was. Even if I knew that everything would get resolved, I would still be unsure if everything would truly be okay or if this would be a turning point in the show -- or even the end to the show. Rest assured, there would be a "Part 2" for that "to be continued" episode where the conflict does get resolved and all is well again (granted, some shows have ended with a cliffhanger).      In some ways, it has felt like we have been living in a "to be continued" episode. For the pas...

    About 12 years ago, I visited Death Valley National Park with my father. Death Valley is known for two distinctions: one, it holds the world record for the warmest recorded air temperature at 134 degrees Fahrenheit (though that temperature has been disputed, as well as unverified claims of warmer temperatures). When we went in August 2008, it was "only" 121 degrees Fahrenheit. For as hot & humid as Texas summers get, I can still take solace in the fact that it's cooler than Death Valley. The second distinction Death Valley holds is this: it is home to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America (282 feet below sea level).      Literally speaking, visiting Death Valley was the lowest point in my life. And unless I travel to an even lower point in the world or explore the deep sea, that will be the lowest my life ever gets. While Death Valley may have been the "lowest" point for me, it's certainly not the lowest that I have ever felt, nor was it ...